VOLUME 1 ISSUE 23
SUNDAY, July 31, 2016
www.NSJONLINE.com
the Sunday News Briefing
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton celebrates among balloons after she accepted the nomination on the fourth and final night at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia July 28.
Clinton campaign also hacked in attacks on Democrats Raleigh On Friday it was disclosed to Reuters that the computer network used by Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign was hacked. This cyber attack follows two other hacks on the Democratic National Committee and the party’s fundraising committee for candidates for the U.S. House. When nearly 20,000 private emails from the DNC hit WikiLeaks.com last week, they revealed fundraisers organized by the DNC around the H.B. 2 controversy for U.S. Senate candidate Deborah Ross, challenging Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Attorney General Roy Cooper, hoping to unseat Gov. Pat McCrory this fall. They also show the influence and name-calling, that went on between the NCDP and DNC over the controversy. “The state of N.C. and the city of Charlotte and especially small businesses were being used as a pawn by Roy Cooper, by the mayor of Charlotte, and by the Democratic Party on an issue that was made up purely for political purposes and to raise money,” said NCGOP Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse. The emails show that the DNC party headquarters approved the state party’s statements on the H.B. 2 saga. Also according to the emails, DNC staffers coordinated and communicated about highyield Cooper fundraisers and worked his visit to financial giant Goldman Sachs in New York. To many the visit indicates Cooper is quickly sliding into the DNC’s nationwide messaging and fundraising machine. The seedier side of the DNC emails shows namecalling as DNC’s director of Hispanic Media referred to McCrory as a “moronic little bigot of a tarheel governor.” during the height of the H.B.2 controversy. According to the emails the DNC also targeted high-yield donors to LGBTQ causes and Andy Crystal, in the DNC press office, approved NCDP’s Dave Miranda’s press releases on H.B.2, responding to one on Pearl Jam’s canceled N.C. concert with simply “awesome.” McCrory said this week, “they cheered, literally cheered when businesses would boycott our great state.” McCrory is mentioned approximately 147 times in the emails and North Carolina is mentioned more than 500 times. For more on WikiLeaks and what N.C. needs to know, visit nsjonline.com.
Looking ahead to USA Basketball at Olympics B1 Previewing and predicting the 2016 ACC season B4-B5 Sports A new Sunday Story series with the participants of Meredith College’s young writers camp. C7 the good life
20177 52016 $2.00
NORTH
STATE
JOURNaL ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION
COURT DECISION
MADELINE GRAY | NORTH STATE JOURNAL
Cameron Lemley, of Greensboro, participates in early voting for District 13 at the Old Courthouse in downtown Greensboro on Tuesday, May 31.
Appeals court strikes down NC voter ID law By Jeff Moore North State Journal
INSIDE
5
JIM YOUNG | REUTERS
8
RALEIGH — The 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals struck down a North Carolina law on Friday that required voters to show photo identification when casting ballots, ruling that it intentionally discriminated against AfricanAmerican residents. Similar laws are currently in effect in Georgia and Indiana. “We cannot ignore the recent evidence that, because of race, the legislature enacted one of the largest restrictions of the franchise in modern North Carolina history,” wrote Judge Diana Motz in her ruling decision. Supporters and opponents of the voter ID law each had strong reactions to the ruling. The American Civil Liberties Union, a plaintiff in the case, lauded the decision. “With surgical precision, North Carolina tried to eliminate voting practices disproportionately used by African-Americans,” said Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “This ruling is a stinging rebuke of the state’s attempt to undermine African-American voter participation, which had surged over the last decade. It is a major victory for North Carolina voters and for voting rights.” Deborah Ross, North Carolina Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, challenging incumbent Sen. Richard Burr (R), agrees with the ruling. “Our democracy is strongest when we bring more voices into the political process,” said Ross. “But North Carolina’s recent and See COURT DECISION, page A8
DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
DNC closes with historic Clinton nomination By Cory Lavalette North State Journal PHILADELPHIA — The Democratic Party tried to use its fourday convention to bring together its splintered factions by celebrating Hillary Clinton as the first female major-party nominee for president and embracing Bernie Sanders’ fanatical supporters. It wasn’t exactly a week of fullon brotherly love between the two sides, but speeches by President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, former President Bill Clinton attempted to present their nominee and her running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Paine, as more qualified and diplomatic than Republican nominee Donald Trump. “She knows that for progress to happen, we have to listen to each other and see ourselves in each other, and fight for our principles, but also fight to find common ground, no matter how elusive that may sometimes seem,” President Obama said Wednesday of
— Senate Leader Phil Berger
For full convention coverage, see DNC A3-A5.
VOTE 2016 GOP blazing a campaign trail through NC By Jeff Moore North State Journal
“We will obviously be appealing this politically motivated decision to the Supreme Court.”
Clinton. Most of the four days consisted of praise for Clinton and scorn for Trump — both in speeches and slickly produced videos. That included the five North Carolinians who spoke on the main stage, ranging from a Greensboro middle school teacher to a U.S. representative, surely an effort to showcase voices from one of the key battleground states in November’s general election. On Thursday, Clinton offered her rebuttal to Trump’s nomination speech a week earlier. “We have the most dynamic and diverse people in the world,” Clinton said. “We have the most tolerant and generous young people we’ve ever had. We have the most powerful military. The most innovative entrepreneurs. The most enduring values. Freedom and equality, justice and opportunity. We should be so proud that these words are associated with us.”
RALEIGH — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running mate Gov. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) campaigned in North Carolina this week, visiting the Triad Monday night, joined by Gov. Pat McCrory and several members of the North Carolina congressional delegation to campaign at the Winston-Salem fairgrounds. The Republican presidential ticket then campaigned in Charlotte Tuesday. Drawing a crowd of approximately 5,000, including many members of the N.C. General Assembly, Trump’s address Monday was preceded by remarks from Sen. Richard Burr, Rep. Virginia Foxx (5th Dist.), Rep. Mark Walker (6th Dist.), Rep. Robert Pittenger (9th Dist.), Rep. Mark Meadows (11th Dist.), and McCrory, among others.
The show of unity comes after the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in which bringing the party together behind their presidential candidate was a major theme, a marked difference from the primary season in which Trump proved a divisive figure in the Republican party. McCrory told the Winston-Salem crowd he came to Raleigh as an outsider to fix a broken state government and said the same is needed in the White House. “We need someone from the outside to clean up Washington, D.C.,” said McCrory to cheers. In an overture to Trump’s hawkish stance on immigration and refugees, McCrory said, “Even the FBI doesn’t know who’s coming into North Carolina from Syria. That’s not right.” McCrory also lamented the risSee REPUBLICANS, page A8
CHRISTINE T. NGUYEN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL
Republican vicepresidential candidate Gov. Mike Pence greets Gov. Pat McCrory Monday during a campaign rally with Donald Trump at the WinstonSalem Fairgrounds Annex.